I’m a cookie gal. While I can handle crispy, crunchy cookies, most of the time I want something chewy and soft. Chocolate chip is the ultimate standby in my book. The balance of buttery cookie with slightly bitter chocolate chips is a win. Add your favorite ice cream and make it a sandwich: genius. If you can wait long enough, get fancy and put mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or sprinkles (RAINBOW!!!!) on the sides, and you’ve got a smashing gourmet ice cream sandwich. I. Could. Not. Wait.
Adapted from Cook’s Country’s Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Makes 24 cookies. To keep the cookies chewy longer, store them in an airtight container with a slice of sandwich bread.
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 2/3 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
½ cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (9 ounces) semisweet and/or bittersweet chocolate chips
1-2 pints of your favorite ice cream (can you ever have enough ice cream?)
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in bowl.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add egg and yolk and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions until just combined, scraping down bowl as needed. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
Working with 2 tablespoons dough at a time, roll into balls and space them 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Flatten them into pucks for a flatter, more spread out cookie shape.
Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are set and beginning to brown but centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 10 minutes before eating serving.
The cookie dough can be frozen, and easily baked straight from frozen – just add 1 minute to the baking time.
To assemble the sandwiches, you need cold cookies and slightly less cold ice cream. Freeze the cookies for 10 or so minutes and take the ice cream out of the freezer during this time. I find it’s easiest to use a portion scoop or disher, but a spoon will work well also.
Put 2-3 tablespoons of ice cream in the center of one of the cookies. Place the other cookie on top and use something evenly flat (ie not your hands) to smoosh the cookies together – I like using the bottom of a ramekin, but a plate would work too. Add your fun toppings, or just take a big bite and enjoy.